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Retirement Years, Pay Schools, Death of Founder. |
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Retirement Years of Br. Rice. In 1838, Br. Edmund was now 76 years of age. He went to Mt. Sion to live out his retirement. He went on visits to Dungarvan and Carrick occasionally and looked after Trusts in his care. In the Congregation, with permission, Hanover Street and Mill Street opened pay-schools that year at £1.00 per student per quarter payable in advance. These students were in different parts of the schools and taught separately from the non-fee paying pupils. The education was the same. It was a great success in these schools. O Connell's were not allowed to be fee paying and, while on the verge of bankruptcy, managed to scrape by. The story of what happened about the pay-schools issue is a sad story in the history of the Brothers. However, as Br. Rice had no input into this, it is another story. In 1841, Br. Edmund made one last visit to Ennistymon and Limerick. After a General Chapter in 1841, Br. Edmund rectified matters relating to securing properly the properties of the Congregation on request so that the Charity Commissioners couldn't get their hands on the Brothers assets after Br. Edmund died. Death of the Founder. In December 1841, Br. Edmund was seriously ill, but managed to recover slightly. From about May 1842, Br. Edmund lapsed into a coma, and remained in this condition to the end of his life. He lingered in his final years and on Thursday, 28th. August 1844, Br. Edmund Ignatius Rice passed away at about 11.00 a.m. aged 82 years. The Brothers kept a vigil at his bedside for the days to the funeral. On Saturday, August 31st., he was interred in the monastic cemetery. The death was widely reported in the newspapers and journals of the time in Ireland and abroad. The Church, in his honour, erected as a tribute to Br. Rice, a chapel called "Our Lady of the Nativity" in Waterford, which was completed in 1846. The body was reinterred in the monastic cemetery in 1871. In 1940, a Mausoleum was built to receive the Founder and the others buried in the monastic cemetery. The Founder's remains were reverently placed in an elm coffin lined with pitch, and it also contains a sealed canister attesting to the remains identity. The coffin was placed in a marble sarcophagus in 1941 with great dignity. Due to the number of visitors, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel was built at Mt. Sion. It opened in August 1979. This place is the final resting place for Br. Rice. (At present in Mt. Sion, the Bakehouse has been restored. In a portion of the main building, there is a splendid museum with an impressive audiovisual display.) |